Saturday, June 28, 2014

That was another hard fought, tough to experience race. Reminds me of
the time I had at Bighorn 100 last summer—just so happened that both
races were on the same weekend this year. The only reason my time was
faster at this event is because no mountains were involved! I had major
issues compounded by getting lost in the middle of the night topped off with
equipment failure. However, if there are character
building training runs, then there are the character building races
as well. Events that result in
amazing experiences and hard to forget life lessons. Mohican is another
one to add to my growing list. While I hate a character building
anything because of the pain and work involved, I can't deny the
positive changes.

The event itself was grand, the course was a playground of gorgeous tree
covered single track, the stuff trail runners dreams are made of. The
volunteers and staff were phenomenal and the weather cooperated. Furthermore the problems I had read about in
other race reports that had plagued the race in its previous editions,
over-crowded race starts and poor trail markings, was non-existent. In
its 25th edition, on the things that mattered, the race was firing on all cylinders.

A full race report is forthcoming but in the meantime I'll share
these short videos. I'm no JB Benna and they are a bit shaky but you'll
get a sense of what it was like.

My weaknesses was exposed and combined with some bad luck
my resolve was sorely tested. I finished physically trashed and weary
but mentally I felt like a giant once more. I'm embarrassed for such a bad showing
but also proud for not quitting. One day I will fail to finish a race, at one point I thought that day was last Saturday at the 25th running of the Mohican 100 Mile Run,
but thank God that day is yet to come! Moving slower these days but still tenacious. Thank you Ohio and the Mohican 100-Mile Run. What an unforgetable experience.

No rest for the weary—Masha and I are headed out to a wedding in Paso Robles today, a 3 hour drive and after the reception we are going to drive the 4.5 hours to the finish line at Western States 100. Excited to watch, cheer and congratulate friends we manage to catch. Haha, ouch! Gonna be an exhausting weekend, especially since I'm still tired from Mohican (like I have bad jet lag) but both are not to be missed.